In general, a refrigerator is an appliance which is utilized to keep various foods in a fresh state by supplying refrigerant generated from an evaporator to food storing compartments. Recently, there is increasing a demand for large-sized refrigerators for the convenience thereof.
Most domestic large-sized refrigerators are of a side-by-side type which has a vertical partition by which the cabinet forming the framework of a refrigerator is divided lengthwise into refrigerating and freezing compartments. Accordingly, the doors which are mounted on the fronts of each compartment are also arranged side by side. The doors are swung by hinges which are mounted at the front corners of the cabinet.
On the inner surfaces of the doors are provided gaskets of a rubber material to seal the compartments from the outside air. The gaskets are attached to the edge of each door's inner surface which contacts the front surface of the cabinet so that when the doors are closed, the gaskets keep the front surface of the cabinet airtight so that the cool air in the compartments does not leak outside. In the gaskets there are mounted permanent magnets to closely adhere the doors to the front metal surface. Further, hot tubes are laid in the front surface of the cabinet to prevent condensation of moisture due to the temperature difference between the compartments and the outside air.
FIG. 1 shows a front portion of a vertical partition of a side-by-side type refrigerator according to a prior art, in which a hot tube is mounted. The vertical partition 2, by which a storing space is divided into the right and left compartments 1, includes a heat-insulation wall 2e which is made by foaming urethane liquid, liners 2a,2b of a plastic material disposed at both sides of the heat-insulation wall 2e, and a cover 3 joining the front ends of the liners 2a,2b.
The front ends of the liners 2a,2b are bent so as to face each other and have fixing grooves 2c,2d of a semi-circle shape, respectively, to fix a pair of hot tubes 5. The cover 3 includes a flat sealing surface 3c forming a front of the cover 3 and pocket portions 3a,3b which extend inward from both the ends of the sealing surface 3c and open toward the side direction. The fixing grooves 2c,2d with the hot tube 5 therein are inserted into the respective pocket portions 3a,3b, so that the cover 3 is mounted on the vertical partition 2.
At the front of the vertical partition 2 are disposed doors 4L,4R to close and open the storing compartments 1. In order to adhere the doors 4L,4R closely to the vertical partition 3 when the doors 4L,4R are closed, gaskets 4a are attached to the edge portions of the inner surfaces of the doors 4L,4R in contact with the vertical partition 2. In the gaskets 4a are mounted permanent magnets 4b to further reinforce the sealing of the doors 4L,4R to the sealing surface 3c of a metal material.
The prior art vertical partition 2 is assembled according to the following process: the hot tubes 5 are inserted into the respective fixing grooves 2c,2d which are provided at the front ends of the left and right liners 2a,2b, and then the fixing grooves 2c,2d are inserted into both the pocket portions 3a,3b to thereby couple the cover 3 to the front ends of the liners 2a,2b. In this state, if urethane is foamed inside of the space formed by the liners 2a,2b and the cover 3, the heat-insulation wall 2e is formed and the cover 3 is fixed firmly.
In a conventional side-by-side type refrigerator having the aforementioned vertical partition 2 and cover 3, when the doors 4L,4R are closed, the gaskets 4a, which are mounted on their inner surfaces, are adhered airtightly to the sealing surface 3c of the cover 3 by the permanent magnets 4b. In this state, because heat from the hot tubes S is radiated outside through the sealing surface 3c of the cover 3, condensate moisture at the front surface of the vertical partition 2 is prevented due to the temperature difference between the compartments 1 and the outside air.
However, such a conventional structure of the vertical partition and cover of a side-by-side type refrigerator can not effectively prevent condensation of moisture because the two hot tubes which are arranged side by side are structurally separated from the sealing surface of the cover so that the heat from the hot tubes is not efficiently transmitted to the sealing surface.
Further, the conventional structure has disadvantages in that its manufacturing cost and process are increased because it requires the two hot tubes which are arranged side by side.
Furthermore, the cover may be deformed by a sudden closing of the doors or an external impact because the pocket portions of the cover can not be filled with the urethane foam so that structurally the rigidity of the cover is relatively weak.